A new thin-film Pb microsensor based on chalcogenide glasses

A new all solid-state potentiometric Pb sensor has been developed on the basis of chalcogenide glass-sensitive material by means of the pulsed laser deposition technique (PLD). The composition, structure and thickness of the deposited sensitive layer has been investigated by means of Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The sensor exhibits a high sensitivity (27-29 V/pPb) over six orders of magnitudes with short response time and low detection limit of 1 x 10(-7) mol/l. The selectivity, the pH interval and the long-term stability of the sensor is discussed. The combination of chalcogenide glass-sensitive materials with the method of thin-film layer deposition (PLD technique) allows to develop sensing materials with a wide spectrum of predefined properties in the thin film state, giving opportunity for the development of miniaturised thin film sensors. Such sensors can be utilised in multisensor systems for the multicomponent analysis of complex media. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.